Position-indicating and air-supplying device for sunken submarines



J. B. S UNT 1,757,151

POSITION INDICATING AND AIR SUPPLYING DEVICE FOR SUNKEN SUBMARINES May6,1930.

Filed March 19, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 HI IY IH QR l .II II MINI I M MH.M| l wl lfil l H |w I HwHl i w wwH l wH I W N HHIH ti'ohh 5.151011% J.B. SUNT 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 19, 1928 John .B ,Sua-t May 6,1930.

POSITION INDICATING AND AIR SUPPLYING DEVICE FOR SUNKEN SUBMARINES W E Q7 Q J. B. SUNT May 6, 1930.

POSITION INDICATING AND AIR SUPPLYING DEVICE FOR SUNKEN SUBMARINES 3Sheets-Sheet Filed March 19, 1928 Attorngy Patented May 6, 1930 UNI-TED,stares JQHN new ine-veama enta Bow r-melamine ela-suratm e entie;aeasnuxen.sa esmen Application filed m r h 19, 1923. s n no; 352,905

This invention relates tomeans fonindicating the position of a sunkensubmarine and for supplying air to the interior of the submarine so thatthe usual salvage operations may be performed without danger or loss oflife to the submarine creweven though a Week or more may to the surface.

An important object of the invention. re.-

sides in the provision of a device of this char- 7 and through air hosesconnected therewith:

at their outerends, the inner ends of said hoses havingcommunicationwith the interier of thes h'i p' I In the drawingszf F-gure l is'a sideelevationof 'a submarine on the surface ofithe water equ-ipped'with myimproved locating and air supplying devices.

Figure 2 is a similar view/"015a submerged submarine, the buoys of theinvention being upon the surface of the water for identitying thelocation of the ship and topermit air to be conveyed to the ship, I V

Figure 3 is a fragmentary vertical section through one of the ship sidesconstructed of a normally closed compartment that may be opened from theinterior of the ship and within which compartment is a pair of buoys forfloating to the water surface when the com partment is opened, I

Figure 4 is a horizontal section taken through one of the compartmentsof the ship,-

Figure 5 is a fragmentarysection through the bottom wall of one of thebuoys equipped with means for permitting communication be required inbringing the'ship submarinef r I Figure. 6 is a detail section. throughtheair supplying buoy 1 i Figure/7 is; a tragmentary section through theupper end of the buoy the inletend oifthe air passage being equippedwithan air inletcap and H between thesalvaging. ship and. sunken Figure Slisa perspective o f 'oneofi. the

position indicating buoys.

.Noyv "having, particular reference to the drawings A; designatesgenerally a conventionalrsubm'arinel In carrying ont'my invention theopposite sides ofthesubmarine are. constructed: with? compartments '5.each ofwhich is open at its outer side as: disclosed clearly in Figures3,.and 4a. 1'

*Mounted ivvi 'hin. the open outer side of each compartment is a pair ofvertically, arranged swinging doors 676; These doors reso mountedwithrespect to thecomp'art v v ment-that-they-have to be opened inwardly of,the compartment as disclosedbythe ari rows, in Figure- 4. The. c adjacent vertical edges ofthese doors areformedwithflanges 6,,f 6"',.th e.edges of which are formed at op,- posite; sides to the centerwithnotchesi, the

N outer edges ofwhich are beveled asclearly disclosed inFigureh 31"Pivoted to the top and bottom walls of the compartment and in--teriorl-y' thereof are arms a to the outer end of whi h are pivotedextensions 9%9 adapted-tor engagement within the said notches Z17;io-fi'ithe'door flanges when the doors have be n swungto closedposition." Pivoted within said slots formed in said arms 8'8' arethreaded, collars 1.0710 thronghzwhioh a e threaded bol s 11711 thatxtend th oughthe top andott .m:rra11so he compa ment as-disclosed i iKeyed to the inn endsof said bolts 17 i I are beveled gearsi2 el2'thathave mesh with similar beveled gears 13- l:3: keyed upon t einnerends oi orizontal. shaf s. 145.141: t e

inner ends of which are journa'led through openings; in the inner wallQfithesubmarine,

theextremeinnerend.thereoi'beingequ pp d with urnirijg wheels 15.7.1.[Obvious y when t isdesireid to open manne s 6:6. fr m he interiorQtthesubmarine theiNheQl 5:;.1:5

' 17 are provided for the purpose of permitting.

are rotated for causing the rotation of the bolt 1111 for drawing thearms 88 as well as their extensions 99 toward the top and bottom wallsof the compartment which will break the joint between the arms and theextension whereupon the doors will automatically open due to thepressure of the water when the submarine is 'in'submerged condition asdisclosed in Figure 2.

Within each compartment is apair of barrel shaped buoys 16 and 17arranged in side by .siderelation within the inner wall of the submarineas clearlyv disclosed in Figure 4. The pair of bouys in each compartmentare connected to the opposite ends of a relatively great length of cable18 which cable is trained over a horizontal bar 18 anchored within thecompartment, and as soon asthe doors 6 have been opened the waterrushing into the compartment will cause the floating'of the buoyswhereupon they will be guided to the open side of the submarine by; thedoors 66 eventually floating to the surface of the water as indicatedinFigure 2. The buoys 16 g' are for the purpose of identifying thelocation of the submerged ship while the other buoys air to'reach'theinterior of the'sunken submarine. 1 By detaching one of the buoys fromthe end of the cable 18 a hoisting chain may beattached to the cable andthence by pulling upwardly on the end of the cable attached to the otherbuoy the chain may be "engaged around the bar 18 so as to enable thesalvaging ship to raise the submarine;

V Each buoy 17 is constructed with a longi tudinal air pipe-19, thelower .endof which has communication with an air hose 20 thatcommunicates at its opposite end with the interiorof-the submarine asdisclosed in Figure 3; Liquid food may also'be conveyed to the submarinecrew through this air hose.

The outer end of the air: pipe lg projects through the. top wall of thebuoy: "and is threaded for the reception of a cap'23 which cap is ofcylindrical formation and formed at its sides with air inletop enings24=so as to permit the'air to pass into the pipe. This buoy will risesorapidly through the water that the small f'amountfof water passinthrough theopenings into the pipe19 and hose 2 will be negligible 1 Vclearlydisclosed in Figures 6'an'd7 the sidewall of the buoy 17 extendsabove the top wall thereof so astofprevent thewaterfr'om- I flowing intothe ope1'1 ings'24; Said side wall 7 of the buoy directly-above'thetopfwall "is formed with'water outlet openings 25 so that the watercannot collectfin the'space above sa1d top wall."* 1

" The bottom wall of each buoy 17 is formed 7 that communicates at itsopposite end to a suitable telephonic instrument within the in- 1 teriorof the submarine so that conversation may be held between thesubmarinecrew and panying drawings, it will be apparent that I haveprovided ahighly novel, simple and extremely useful position indicatingand air .7

supplying device for sunken submarines and herein I have shownand.described the in vention consisting of certain detail structuralelements but nevertheless it will be understood that somechanges may bemade therein'without' afiectingthe spirit. or'scope of the appendedclaims.

It is. obvious that my invention is susceptible to various changes andmodificationsin construction without departing from the spirit oftheinvention or the scope of the appended claim, and I- accordingly claimall. such forms of the device to which I am entitled.

Having thusdescribed my invention, what I claim as new is:

In 'ameansfor supplying air to the interior of a sunken submarine, abuoy normal 1y attached to the submarine and adapted to float to thesurface when released from the submerged vessel, said buoy comprisingtop and bottom walls, and an interconnecting side wall,the upper edge ofthe sidewall proj ecting above the top wall, the upper portion of the.sidewall directlyabove the top wall being formed with water outletopenings,.an air pipe extending through the top and bottom walls, theupper end providing an air in-} let and projecting above the wateroutlet. openings in the. side wall, a cylindrical cap secured at itslower end on the upper end of 1 the air pipe,-the top of thecapbeingclosed,

the side of the cap above theupper end of the air pipe being formedwith. airinlet openings, 7 and a hose affording communication betweenthe lower end of the air pipeand the interior of the sunken; submarine.J V In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

JOHN B. SUNT.

with d PQ Q w'ithin which is normally arranged a bell or cylinder27fwith V in which is arranged a telephonicinstrument 28 "to which isattached an electric wire 29

